Who should Apple buy? — Just three days ago, American Technology Research upgraded projections for Apple for the holiday quarter, suggesting as many as 2.3 million Macs and 25 million iPods would be sold. Today, AppleInsider has a research note from Andrew Neff of Bear Sterns suggesting Apple's inventory …

Commodore 64 still loved after all these years — (CNN) — Like a first love or a first car, a first computer can hold a special place in people's hearts. For millions of kids who grew up in the 1980s, that first computer was the Commodore 64. Twenty-five years later, that first brush with computer addiction is as strong as ever.

Gemstar-TV Guide Sold; Murdoch's Nightmare Over — Gemstar-TV Guide (GMST) finally found a buyer, and Rupert Murdoch found a way to offload his 41% stake in the company—ending the most significant losing bet he's made in the last decade. It's not too hard to see how owning Gemstar …

Kindling — When I started writing this column in the spring of 1997 Apple was on the skids. It was the era of Gil Amelio, still several months before the return of Steve Jobs. Apple's products were a confused mish-mash, with product planning coming more from CompUSA than from Cupertino.

Coke Promotes Itself in a New Virtual World — COCA-COLA lovers will have a new place to hang out starting today, and it is an island on the Internet that is shaped like a Coke bottle. — At CC Metro, the name of the island, visitors can set up a virtual alter ego known as an avatar …

Syria blocks access to Facebook — DAMASCUS, Syria - Syrian authorities have blocked Facebook, the popular Internet hangout, over what seems to be fears of Israeli "infiltration" of Syrian social networks on the Net, according to residents and media reports.

Shift by name, Shift by nature. — ...all the way into 2008. — By the time the HTC Shift ships on Jan 11 2008 (latest date, UK, on Expansys) the biggest consumer electronics show of the year will be over and the Internet will be a wash (awash? Sorry Mum ) with talk of the next …

Venture Summit: Has the Internet Jumped the Shark? — So I moderated a panel yesterday at AlwaysOn's Venture Summit West, held at the Ritz Carlton at Half Moon Bay, Calif., with the title "Is There Still an Upside to the Internet?" — Of course, I redubbed it: "Has the Internet Jumped the Shark?"

Verizon hit with GPL copyright lawsuit over router software — Open source software is very attractive for companies looking to expand their services or quickly get new offerings to market, in part because it's free. Unfortunately, some companies tend to overlook the software license commonly attached …

Next-Gen DVDs: Advantage, Sony — Sony-led backers of Blu-ray seem to have pulled ahead of rivals in the race for a single high-def DVD standard — It's a fight with more plot twists and intrigue than a Hollywood thriller. For two years now, rival camps have been battling over which new DVD format …

Rails 2.0 — Rails 2.0 is finally finished after about a year in the making. This is a fantastic release that's absolutely stuffed with great new features, loads of fixes, and an incredible amount of polish. We've even taken a fair bit of cruft out to make the whole package more coherent and lean.

Local Search Ads To $5 Billion In '08 — Borrell Associates predicted a big gain in the overall local online ad market, with local search representing a big slice of the market share. — We'll tell the yellow pages firms and local papers why they are doomed in a moment.

AOL (TWX): Update on Next Week's Firings — Got a kind note from a depressed AOLer who is preparing to be fired next Wednesday, December 12, and would like us to be taking more notice of this. We wish we could! Unfortunately, some of our AOL moles were pole-axed in the October massacre …